Rob,I constructed a vac this summer as per your directions. Used it on two removals and thought it was great :-D

On thing I learned early on, if I needed to shut off the vac for any reason, be sure to have something to plug the end with. I did have some issues with lingering bees in the hose when I was done. A few raps and they went in.

Just one slight change will much improve your design. I have been using almost the same setup with the exception of I took the motor of a Shop Vac Hang Up Mini and cut the bottom of the flange off so it would fit down snug on the top cover and put my suction hole in the bottom of a medium super. Now I don't have to drag around the vac and extra hose, plus I took the frame from an old backpack leaf blower and removed the motor and fan and can mount my vac to this and take it with me up a ladder with no problem at all.

I used my bushkill vac last week on a hive in a crawl space. same exact designed but I probably killed 1/2. at first my vac was not enough then i taped the hose joints and it picked up some more suck! i guess it was too much. i was using an eight foot corrugated hose on the sucking end, same on the other. is there a location to buy smooth hose in GA steve? how's that queen doing? and what are doing with all those swarms?

Try usingg smooth bore hose. you can get it at lowes or homedepot. or a pool supply house. that is want i use on mine.

I used my bushkill vac last week on a hive in a crawl space. same exact designed but I probably killed 1/2. at first my vac was not enough then i taped the hose joints and it picked up some more suck! i guess it was too much. i was using an eight foot corrugated hose on the sucking end, same on the other. is there a location to buy smooth hose in GA steve? how's that queen doing? and what are doing with all those swarms?

Try usingg smooth bore hose. you can get it at lowes or homedepot. or a pool supply house. that is want i use on mine.

Changing to smooth bore hose is not going to solve his problem. I have 100's of people using regular 2-1/2" shop vac type hose with a minimal mortality rate if suction is set correctly, AND you do not suck up too many bees covered in honey. A large portion of those killing lots of bees are not being careful when cutting comb and getting the bees covered with honey.

Shop vac type hose is actually quite smooth on the inside and I find hose diameter is of greater importance that the smoothness of the bore.

Logged

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison

Robo I am with you totally on this one. I find that the larger bore hose is the way to go, I feel like it tumbles the bees less. Negative pressure or suction is also very important, it should be set to where it just overcomes a bees flight, and I don't mean sucking them out of the air from 10 feet away. When suctioning bees off of comb you need to be extra careful since you can pull unripened honey out of the cells which will in turn coat the bees and the inside of the hose. Once the bees are coated in honey they are almost for sure doomed, it takes another bee to clean a honey soaked bee up.

Logged

see my swarms and cut outs at

those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your @ss is a catchin!!!

"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may remember,involve me and I'll understand" Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways." John F. KennedyFranklin County Beekeepers Association MA. http://www.franklinmabeekeepers.org/

G3farms: "not really plans but with a little imagination you can adapt to it."

I guess my imagination generator is kaput. I can't really make heads or tails out of those pictures which is why I wanted a picture I could use, that is a drawing. The narratives describe things I just am not seeing in the pics. -james

I've used my new Bushkillfarms vacuum 4 times now. I lose very few bees, as I try not to use too much suction. It's so much nicer to do a cut-out without angry bees on your veil. If one of the girls gets mad, she gets a ride in the hose!